Essay on Danielle Scott’s
Kinfolk is an art exhibit created by Danielle Scott in 2022. It focuses on racial commentary in society and how powerful and important a family community is. Scott spent months researching for this project by visiting various plantations around the country and sourcing materials and ideas along the way. This exhibit features the integration of still photos, colors, fabric, books, and many more materials to tell the ancestral story of her people. Originally a painter, Scott knew that this story needed more than just paint. It needed photos, documents, fabrics, and so much more. The two works that stood out to me in this exhibit are “Cecila and Bazile Churchill” and “Griff”/ “We did not Enslave Ourselves”. These pieces are very different from each other, and therefore move me in two different ways. However, they still contribute to the meaning of the exhibit as a whole.
The first work that stood out to me was “Celia and Bazile Churchill”. I loved this work because it reminded me of my niece and me. I also think this is one of the happier pieces in the exhibit and gave a less somber vibe. The piece features two subjects, presumably Celia and Bazile, posed together in a portrait like manner. Its material list said it was made of mixed medium assemblage and resin. It is clear that this work used the most amount of different materials such as actual pearls and gems for their jewelry, different fabrics for the dress on the little girl and the skirt on the woman, and materials for the halo behind the woman. It is also important to note that the subjects are smiling in the photo. The little girl has joy and innocence behind her eyes and a smile much larger than the womans, even showing teeth. The woman's smile is a lot more subdued, as though she has seen a lot and has gone through some tough times.
The message I interpreted from this work is the power of womanhood and how that ties into the meaning of kinfolk and ancestry. There would be no family if it were not for women carrying these children and bringing them into this world and that deserves to be celebrated. I think that is why the subjects are dawned in material that looks like royalty with reds and golds and pearls and gems. To celebrate womanhood and their courage and strength and commend the important role they play in the family as caretakers. However this is a story that needs to be told with care and grace. Bell Hooks’s Understanding Patriarchy states, “Keeping males and females from telling the truth about what happens to them in families is one way patriarchal culture is maintained” (Hooks 24). It is also important to note the courage and strength of women who were slaves as well. It is said that slavery looked different for women than it did for men. Danielle Scott’s exhibit featured various books about slavery that were open for the public to touch and read. The book that stood out to me was Ar’n’t I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South by Deborah Gray White. In chapter two of the book Deborah recalls many instances where Black women bravely attempted to escape the slave ships and bring others with them. The stories in that chapter are another reason why women should be celebrated and the work “Celia and Bazile Churchill” is an exemplary piece of honor and celebration.
The second work that I found interesting is “Griff” / “We did Not Enslave Ourselves”. This piece stood out to me immediately because it is one of two pieces that are not based on photographs. It is instead a sculpture made with materials such as aluminum, sand resin, and wood. The piece features a tree stump with many brown hands and real rope sitting on top with a wooden cross with a noose sticking out. The noose on the cross is particularly interesting because it is made out of actual aluminum, which Danielle Scott made herself with the assistance of professionals. The noose made out of aluminum instead of rope is extremely significant as you cannot untie the aluminum rope. This could have a variety of meanings including the fact that we cannot erase the past and the horrors that slaves had to endure or the idea of ‘family ties’ and how tight a community can be. The cross is also significant as it brings in a religious significance of the cross and how it represents sacrifice and love. The hands sticking out of the bottom of the cross represent the lives of the many people and families that were and still are affected by racism.
The message I interpreted from “Griff” / “We did Not Enslave Ourselves” is the real life image of slavery and sacrifice. The fact that this work is a sculpture rather than a picture is because it is a physical reminder of something very important. The Art of Activism states, “. . . facts and truth don’t speak for themselves. They need to be made into symbols and incorporated into stories that people can make sense of and care about” (Lambert & Duncombe 25). The cross is a common representation of sacrifice and love, however it is also a symbol of murder. I think that is what one might think initially when looking at the piece. However, the noose brings in an entirely new haunting side of the piece as it represents murder that cannot be undone. The hands coming out of the bottom of the cross also sends the message of people trying to fight to stay free. The tree stump serves as the foundation of the piece and reminds me of something like a family tree and represents the foundation of family.
These personal narratives about struggle, injustice, celebration, and memorial raise a substantial amount of questions and awareness about race, identity, and history. It also speaks a great amount about truth and how it can be found through art and interpreted in many ways that are personal to the individual. These works also speak heavily on the power of women, race, and family. This is seen the most through the photos captured. When talking about photography, Susan Sontag stated, “To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting oneself into a certain relation to the world it feels like knowledge — and therefore, like power” (Sontag). Danielle Scott and her work are definitely a form of activism. Although she wasn’t the original photographer, she took the power of the subject and the photographs themselves and shed a light onto their stories which in turn reflects the social commentary of the world today.
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